I came across some discussion on Facebook about this setting/ruleset. We had a pretty fun campaign in the TNE Setting, though the system didn't quite work for us and we evetually switched for other rulesets. I see the Fire Fusion Steel supplement especially getting alot of criticism. I recall some of the more rules oriented players falling in love with that sourcebook, designing various weapons etc. That is not something that appealed to me personally, but the criticism seems to be about the rules being unbalanced maybe?

I suspect the main criticism against FFS was not to do with balance, but rather a) it was impossible to build anything approaching a normal car in terms of size and functionality, and b) it contributed towards a reputation for the game to be too "technical" for normal people. I can't honestly say I noticed any particular game balance issues from that book though. A lot of later supplements clearly didn't follow those design sequences in inventing new pieces of equipment.

Emma Rome, otherwise known as AshtagonOverall site admin for The Piazza. My moderator colour is pink!

FFS also becomes a lot less problematic with the rise of personal computing. I was working on a (personal) conversion project from 2300 AD to TNE, and it was maybe an hour's work to write up a spreadsheet that would do all the stats for a firearm and its ammunition from its dimensions. After that, I could crank out stats in a few minutes.

There was also criticism of the Ithklur portion of Aliens of the Rim, because it had some weird stuff that was taken to be off-the-wall jokes, but seems to have been intended to raise creepy questions about the Hivers' manipulation of the Ithklur - their philosopher-hero was San*Klaas (where * is a clicking sound, similar to "ta"), who wore a triangular red hat with a white fluffball on top (although he may not have originally had that name or worn that clothing). On further reading, it makes more and more sense, though. The Ithklur know they're being manipulated, and that nothing in their own culture/history is certain (was there are San*Klaas, or is that a Hiver manipulation?). They also know Humaniti seems fairly resistant to Hiver manipulation, so they absorb everything they can from Human culture, because it's not Hiver-influenced. They're desperately searching for truth because they have none in their past. On a philosophical level, it's horrifying what the Hivers have done to them.